Opening and Plenary 1 - Knowledge and the SDGs a 3-fold approach

The first session will lay the foundation for the conference, building upon experiences and views on knowledge and education. Speakers will highlight their respective roles, differences and expectations for potential partnerships in harnessing knowledge for sustainable development, paving the way towards complementarity and a common understanding of key concepts.

Opening Remarks

Bernard Hochstrasser, Vice-Rector, University of Geneva
Michael Møller, Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva
Frédérique Reeb-Landry, Chairperson, GEM ED, P&G Switzerland

Plenary 1

Moderator:
Alex Wong, Head, Global Challenge Partnerships, World Economic Forum

Panelists:
Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Provost (Education), Imperial College London
Nadine Hack, CEO, beCause Global Consulting
Nikhil Seth, Executive Director, UNITAR

Session 1.1 Partnering to strengthen sustainability competencies

Education and knowledge creation for the SDGs and the collective commitment towards a sustainable future connect to competence-oriented learning, interdisciplinarity, social skills, empathy and ownership. Panelists will describe their vision and experience on how multistakeholder partnerships and education initiatives have so far contributed to promote skills and knowledge for the SDGs.

Moderator:
Pr Jörg Balsiger, University of Geneva

Panelists:
Ioana Creitaru, Capacity building specialist, CADRI-UNDP
Ruth Förster, Board Member, Swiss Academic Society for Environmental Research and Ecology (SAGUF)
Elena Proden, Specialist, The 2030 Agenda Orientation and Training, UNITAR
Gitanjali Sah, Coordinator, World Summit on the Information Society, ITU
Otto Simonett, Director, Zoi Network

Session 1.2 Innovative learning approaches for the SDGs

Digital innovation is powering a broad spectrum of new learning technologies, ranging from MOOCs to blended learning to hands-on challenge-based courses. In this session, we will explore this spectrum and ask how these new learning technologies can help achieve the SDGs.

Moderator:
Pr François Grey, University of Geneva

Panelists:
Einar Bjørgo, Manager, UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT)
Isabelle Finger, Head of Global Partnerships, Coursera
Daniele Gerundino, Acting director ISO Academy
Gaëll Mainguy, Director of development, CRI, University Paris Descartes
Sameer Pujari, Manager and CoFounder Be Healthy Be Mobile Initiative, WHO
Luping Xu, Professor, Tsinghua University

Plenary 2 - Knowledge for the SDGs: engaging with the world

The second plenary session will look at the sustainability of educational initiatives. Which formats and tools should be preferred to ensure a lasting impact at societally acceptable costs? Are peer-to-peer learning, knowledge sharing and informal learning the way forward? If so, in what forms and under which circumstances? How can social media, online consultations, crowdsourcing and knowledge platforms foster education through engagement as well as engagement through education? How to ensure and measure sustainability and efficiency of multi-stakeholder partnerships for educational and knowledge sharing projects?

Moderator:
Edward Girardet, Editor-in-Chief, Geneva Global

Panelists:
Atish Gonsalves, Global Learning Director, Humanitarian Leadership Academy
Marc Lepage, Innovation Team Leader for Africa, UNDP
Gideon Shimshon, Director Centre for innovation / HumanityX, Leiden University

Session 2.1 Access to knowledge and the adoption of innovation

Barriers to education in the digital era (gender age, literacy, language, socio-economic background); socially and locally valued information.

Moderator:
Dr. Pedro Cardoso Leite, Senior Lecturer, UNIGE

Panelists:
Miren Bengoa, Executive Director, Chanel Foundation & President, UN Women France
Raphaël Dard, E-learning Programme Coordinator, ITC
Mark Lester, Director of Partnerships Development, FutureLearn
Daniel Schneider, Professor, University of Geneva
Susan Teltscher, Acting Head, ICT Data & Statistics Head, Human Capacity Building Division, ITU

Session 2.2 Engagement and lifelong learning

Incentives to citizen engagement and sharing by using knowledge platforms and social media: the creation of individual lifelong portfolios, social learning, participative learning, digital identity.

Moderator:
Stefano Cutillo, Journalist

Panelists:
Florence Baudry, Head, FerMUN, Model United Nations
Jérôme Berthier, Head of Big data and business intelligence, ELCA
Murray Bunton, Executive Director, Agency
John Crowley, Chief of Section, Research, Policy and Foresight, UNESCO
Petra Klassen, Scientific Advisor, Nutrition, Health & Wellness & Sustainability, Nestlé
Benoît Lecomte, President, GRAD-s
Francesco Pisano, Director, UN Library at Geneva

Plenary 3 - Knowledge to achieve the SDGs: quality, relevance and legitimacy

The third plenary session will examine the notion of quality content, authoritative knowledge, credentialing and impact evaluation as they are supported and challenged by digital innovation and the initiatives of a variety of new actors. How to select appropriate knowledge partners outside one’s own domain? How to strengthen and demonstrate one’s own credibility? How to explore new multistakeholder partnerships?

Moderator:
Pete Forster, Senior Communications Officer, International Labour Organisation

Panelists:
Ariel Meyerstein, Vice President, Labor Affairs, Corp. Responsibility & Governance, U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB)
Bakary Traoré, Economist, OECD
Bernie Trilling, 21st Century Learning Advisor, Center for Curriculum Redesign

Session 3.1 Quality content, authority and impact

This session will elaborate on key issues of quality in digitally-supported knowledge creation, addressing the challenges raised by participatory processes and the need to produce relevant and localized knowledge. It will move on to interrogate the legitimacy of individuals and institutions active in knowledge creation and transmission and its impact on learning motivation, trust and valuation of training and credentials. Finally, the ultimate goal of knowledge creation and transmission, namely learning, will be addressed, especially looking into actual impact and impact-evaluation. Beyond lessons learned from failures and best-practices, new ways of dealing with those challenges will be explored.

Moderator:
Dr. Sophie Huber, Director, Centre for Continuing and Distance Education, UNIGE

Panelists:
Alain Court, Head of Learning Solutions Unit, ICRC
John Crowley, Chief of Section, Research, Policy and Foresight, UNESCO
Mark Halle, Executive Director, IISD Europe
Hernan Manson, Senior Officer Sector Competitiveness, ITC
Natacha Rault, Member, Pedagogical Team WikiMOOC
Roberto Vega, Head, Smallholder policy and food chain engagement, Syngenta

Session 3.2 Projects presentation, Launching of GVADATA, Wrap-up session, The way forward

This session will present a range of innovative projects for Knowledge and the SDGs presented by partners of the Conference. It will start with the recently announced Geneva-Tsinghua Initiative for a comprehensive education programme on the SDGs between University of Geneva and Tsinghua University, and in collaboration with International Geneva and the entrepreneurial hubs of China in Beijing and Shenzhen.

Moderator:
Fred Ballenegger, UNIGE / Upwelling Ltd.

Presenters:
Bernard Debarbieux, Professor, UNIGE
François Grey, Professor, UNIGE
Paul Nieuwenburg, Vice-Dean & Professor of political philosophy, Leiden University
Nadia Isler, Head, SDG Lab, UNOG
Jan-Anno Schuur, Information Specialist, OECD
Anne Roulin, VP, Nutrition, Health & Wellness & Sustainability, Nestlé
Dimitrios Noukakis, Director, MOOCS4Africa, EPFL
David Schweighofer, Conversation strategist, Dell Inc.
Luping Xu, Professor, Tsinghua University

Closing remarks, official launch of GVADATA and wrap-up session
Olivier Coutau, Delegate to the International Geneva, Canton of Geneva
Carolina Rodriguez, Head, Perception Change Project, United Nations Office at Geneva
Yves Flückiger, Rector, University of Geneva
Brigitte Perrin, Head of Communication, Geneva Trialogue & Center for continuing and distance education, University of Geneva